What is Hijri New Year's Day? How should we regard the celebrations of the New Year's Day?

What is Hijri New Year's Day? How should we regard the celebrations of the New Year's Day?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Hijri Calendar (Islamic lunar calendar) started with the migration of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) from Mecca to Medina. This date corresponds to 16th July, 622. As the calendar is regulated based on the movement of the moon, it is called “Hijri or Lunar Year”. Hijri calendar was prepared as a result of the confusion on calculating the days, after the death of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Hijri Calendar accepts the first night when it is crescent moon as the beginning of the New Year. The period of time until the crescent moon appears again is considered one month, and 12 months equal to one year. According to this calendar, rotation of the moon around the Earth is accepted to be 29 and a half days. Thus, while one month is considered as 29 days, the other month is considered as 30 days. Therefore, the lunar calendar has 354 days, while the solar calendar has 365 days. For this reason, Hijri months arrive eleven days earlier than Gregorian months every year. As a result of this, Hijri months correspond to different seasons. Therefore, Ramadan, which is a month of Hijri calendar, sometimes arrive in summer, sometimes in winter and sometimes in other seasons; thus, it corresponds to all months, weeks and days of the year. A person, who fasts for 36 years fasts in every month and day of the year.

In Hijri Calendar, the New Year’s Day is the first of Muharram. The month of Muharram is followed by Safar, Rabi’ul- Awwal, Rabi’ul-Akhir, Jumadal-Awwal, Jumadal-Akhir, Rajab, Sha’aban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Dhul-Qadah and Dhul-Hijjah.

We are all Muslims, alhamdulillah (thank Allah), yet we all do not live as Islam requires us to live, unfortunately. We call living as a true Muslim “piety”. Whoever lives according to the requirements of the belief, we attribute the adjective “pious” to him, and call him “a pious man”. He already deserves to be called so.

You can also consider piety as an armor worn to be protected from the perversity and mischief of time. In fact, piety is a lifestyle which does not only put the one who lives it in Heaven but also brings peace and happiness in earthly life for him.

As a matter of fact, you can see how the pious ones and the non-pious ones spend their lives on new year’s days corresponding to the birth of prophet Jesus and the migration of the prophet Muhammad.

The pious ones, while thinking on New Year’s eves, say, even though sub-consciously:

- The New Year’s Day means that another year of the life has come to an end, we are closer to the inevitable end called death, and days of elderliness are closer, while the days of youth are coming to the end. As a matter of fact, more grey hair is growing amongst dark hair every New Year, signaling that we are getting older.

Therefore, instead of being taken with more debauchery and profligacy on new year’s eves, it is necessary to lean more to the Hereafter and the Eternal Life. For, this swift travel is towards the grave and the Hereafter, whether you admit it or deny it.

As piety makes one think more and behave carefully, pious people regret about their past years less. However, strayed people who do not consider themselves bound by the religious limits do not make a slight judgment or do not think even slightly about themselves. They are totally deprived of consciousness and perception. On the night which is an evidence to getting closer to death, they suffer the loss of their morality, spirituality and money, and continue to commit acts that they will regret later. What follow this entertainment and profligacy of a few hours are despair and regret that last for a lifetime.

What causes them to regret forever results from their lives which are not led according to the requirements of Islam, that is to say, it is because of non-piety. If they gained a strong belief to stay faithful to the requirements of the religion, an indication of piety, it would enable them to think vice versa on every new year’s eve, would pull themselves together and eventually advance in belief and morality, and they would neither regret their past nor be taken with debauchery and profligacy.

It can be concluded that what causes some people to degenerate and some to sublime on new year’s eves is nothing but being pious or not.

It is clear that what makes one think, and leads him to happiness is piety, and it is a fact that what deprives one of self-judgement and leads to profligacy is levity in religion.

That is to say, this is a world of testing. It is open to both ways. Anyone can go this way or that way. Some cancel their consciousness on New Year’s eve and some elevate it.

We praise Allah for our piety, give thanks to Him, who makes us think and behave so.

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